Water superintendent Chris McGuirt spoke on behalf of the water department during the City of Salem’s board of aldermen meeting on March 11. McGuirt spoke highly of his team for being selected as finalists in the Missouri Rural Water Association’s (MRWA) Show-Me Tap Water Roundup, speaking to how hard and diligently his crew members have worked over the years.
The City of Salem was judged as one of the best in Missouri for its “clarity, bouquet, and taste” and earned a spot in the top five. On April 23, water specialists will take a sample to the MRWA Open House for the final round of judging. The ultimate winner will represent Missouri at the 2026 Great American Water Taste Test in Washington, D.C.
“I don’t like to call my people a ‘crew’—we’re a team, and we work as a team,” shared McGuirt. “We’ve worked hard to get the water to where it’s at.”
The water that was sent to MPUA was presented to the board in a mason jar. McGuirt shared it was obtained in the middle of town from a tap. Congratulations were heard from the board, along with a round of applause from the audience.
McGuirt highlighted the journey that Salem’s water has taken over the years, and the amount of problem-solving that’s been undergone to resolve turbidity issues. The team refused to accept the water’s quality as unchangeable, said McGuirt; instead, they sought external expertise, including DNR and EPA, and conducted extensive research and close monitoring to ensure its improvement.
Eventually, the department discovered a correlation between tremors from the New Madrid Fault and turbidity in one well. Every time the New Madrid Fault has a significant tremor, it affects one of Salem’s wells—even this far away. The SCADA system has been programmed to sound an alarm whenever a significant tremor occurs so the department is able to know two days out when the well would pump turbid water. Crew members are able to shut the well down and allow it to rest until the aquifer is able to clear.
Another well was equipped with a piece of equipment called a Variable Frequency Drive (VFD), which controls the amount of water pumped per minute. The team reduced the water flow significantly, after remembering a tip indicating the well was built on top of what used to be a swampy area, resolving the turbidity issue completely.
Further, the team continuously monitors chlorine levels in the water to ensure proper sanitation while maintaining good taste. Readings are taken daily at multiple points, including the farthest areas within city limits, allowing them to adjust chlorine levels effectively.
“There are other categories for the competition that we can put our water and wastewater department into,” stated McGuirt further. “In the future, I plan on putting [our department] there. Because nobody works harder than our people do to provide safe, clean water and keep the sewer system running as well as it can.”
“That’s not the only thing you guys do, Chris. I’ve seen the inspections from all your guys’ facilities—not only does the water department take care of and provide clean water to our citizens, all of the equipment that they take care of and maintain throughout the week, it’s remarkable,” said Mayor Greg Parker, before asking for a round of applause for the department’s efforts.
“I’m proud to accept that on their behalf, but it isn’t just our department—we could not do the things we did, have the equipment that we’ve got to work with, been allowed to get the training and get the knowledge that we’ve had without our administration,” shared McGuirt. “In just a few short months, I’ll be here employed by the city for 29 years, and I’m here to tell you this is the best administration I’ve ever worked with.”
